


in the light of limerence

by shell-heads (chocopies)



Series: Cap/IM Bingo [5]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, kinda of a mashup between comic and mcu stony
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-02
Updated: 2018-05-02
Packaged: 2019-05-01 08:16:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14516181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chocopies/pseuds/shell-heads
Summary: It's the final game of the season, their biggest one yet, and there's only one question on everybody's mind: who the hell is Captain Steve Rogers' boyfriend, and why does Cap keep dodging questions about him?"You gotta admit it's suspicious that only Bucky and Sam have met your boyfriend, dude," Clint points out as he shoves Pietro away with a smirk, pulling the uniform over his head and tugging it down. "We've known you, what-two years? We've never seen the guy even once.""And your phone mysteriously only has pictures of Tony Stark," Johnny Storm adds as he joins the conversation, knocking knees with Thor when he sits down on one of the benches. "Tony Stark, who has at least ten fansites and personally assured me he's had a boyfriend for the past five years.""I can't believe Cap is actually out here acting like Tony Stark's boyfriend," Luke says with a smirk, resting against a wall without a care."I can't believe you guys still think this is a joke," Sam throws back while tossing his other dirty sock at Luke, who dodges it smoothly.In little more than ten minutes, the biggest question of Shield University is answered with much aplomb by none other than Tony Stark himself.





	in the light of limerence

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by convos with @asteryya on tumblr about the wonders of school!stony i wrote this for my bingo card "i regret nothing". it's honestly terRIBLE BECAUSE I JUST GAVE UP AT SOME POINT AND DECIDED TO GO WITH IT SO????? I MEAN EVEN THE SUMMARY SUCKS BECAUSE IM S H * T AT THEM BUT LIKE PLEASE DONT THROW STONES JSJDKFMFGM don't expect much dnfnfngg also pls excuse my excessive use of italics oh lo r d

"-and you know, it really doesn't make sense that you guys say hike because there's no upwards terrain on a football field, which would frankly make it a lot more interesting than a whole bunch of you just running around like heathens-"

"Tony," Steve sighs, fond and exasperated and smiling helplessly as he bites his lip to stop laughing. "Sweetheart, it's three in the morning."

"It's really not so hard, Steve, Rhodey and I can run in straight lines too-wait, what?"

Steve can practically hear the screeching halt Tony's mind comes to once he processes Steve's words, grinning into his pillow and laughing silently at his boyfriend.

"You're lying, that's a lie, because I clearly remembering eating burgers with Bruce at eight not even two hours ago, _Rogers_ ," Tony argues after a pause, a different voice filtering through the phone right afterwards.

"Tony, that was seven hours ago," comes Bruce's sleepy reply, and Steve laughs even more into his pillow as Tony splutters nonsensically at Bruce.

"Has he been in your room the entire time?" Steve asks him, smothering his voice as best as he can not to wake up Sam from his bed not even three feet away.

"It's not like I was just gonna let him go back to his _dorm_ ," Tony remarks as if it's a perfectly natural response, a quiet huff of laughter from Bruce echoing tinnily through the speaker.

"Tony, go to _sleep_ ," Steve urges with a quick look over to Sam, settling himself properly into bed and curling an arm under his head. "You don't have to come to my game if you don't want to, but you need to get some actual sleep before school."

"Of course I'm coming, honeybun, what in the world makes you think I don't want to come," Tony automatically replies, pulling away his phone from his ear to frown at it. "Have you not been listening to literally anything I said in the last thirty minutes? You do remember the part where I mentioned how much I missed you while I was off saving third world countries with Bruce for the past month, right? I've been trying to come to your games for two _years_  now, and you expect me to not show up the day of your finals? Did I lose you somewhere? Hold up, did you even notice I was talking?"

"Is this the part where a good boyfriend says yes?" Steve muses wickedly, smile growing when Tony squawks in offense. " _Yes_ , Tony, I was listening to you. I missed you too, more than you know-but right now you should probably listen to me and go to sleep. I don't care if you don't understand football, sweetheart. I don't even try to understand how you create codes and make your robots or the literal rocket science you study, so you don't have to force yourself to understand sports for me. I'm just excited to see you after so long."

"I understand sports perfectly fine," Tony insists as he swings around on his desk chair; Steve can hear it squeak faintly over the phone, familiar and comforting. "Real sports, like basketball and soccer-football is a different playing field. And I keep saying you'd be able to understand my work if you just tried hard enough, babe, it's not like you're some kind of stupid jock."

"I'm exactly a stupid jock," Steve laughs softly, rolling his eyes when Tony scoffs in disbelief and the swivel chair's squeaking comes to a sudden halt.

"You're as much a stupid jock as I am, hon," Tony says flatly, ballooning Steve's chest with warmth at the poorly-hidden irritation in Tony's voice from the insinuation that Steve could ever be stupid. "There's different types of intelligence, Stevie bear, and you've got more than one or two; it's just your luck you met the only person who's intelligent in every way but one."

"And what's that?" Steve asks in amusement as he closes his eyes and lets Tony's voice wash over him, affectionate and lively.

"Emotional intelligence," Tony answers matter-of-factly, setting Steve off into sleepy giggles. "Emotions are my worst enemy, Steve, my ultimate foe, my most dangerous opposition. Can't stand the damned things. Matters of the heart are not my forte."

"You seem to do pretty well with me," Steve murmurs drowsily, blinking his eyes open when Tony has no immediately forthcoming reply. He flexes his toes and stretches, trying to wake himself up a bit so he can pay better attention, waiting for Tony to respond.

"Yeah, well," Tony says finally, soft and achingly warm, "you're a special guy, Steve Rogers."

"Yeah?" Steve yawns into a grin, Tony's words making his heart melt into something sugar-sweet and bright in a sudden, smooth burst of intense affection.

"Yeah," Tony repeats, smiling into the dark of his room and closing his eyes as he lays down on his bed to get ready for sleep. "My best guy."

"You're my best guy too, Tony," Steve tells him earnestly as he rubs his cheek against his pillow, half-asleep but reluctant to hang up on his boyfriend.

"I'd better be," Tony retorts imperiously, snuggling into his hoodie. "Who else would be able to handle my dashing good looks and intimidating intelligence?"

"I certainly don't plan on finding out," Steve mumbles as he curls into himself, slowly falling into the clutches of deep sleep.

"Good night, honeybun," Tony sing-songs quietly as Steve's voice grows quieter near the end, the phone hot by his ear as he shuffles in bed. He slips under the covers and pulls the blanket up to his shoulders, placing the phone underneath his cheek.

"G'night, Tony," Steve manages sleepily, lips still quirked at the corners. "See y'tomorrow."

"For the big game," Tony confirms, turning his head to smack an exaggerated kiss through the phone.

He doesn't expect a reply, but he stays on the line just to hear Steve's endearing little huffs of breath, soaking in the quiet sounds to feel them settle in his skin like a wash of liquid comfort after all this time without being able to talk much with each other.

"Hurry up and go to sleep, Tony," Bruce mumbles knowingly from across the room, startling him. "Sooner you sleep, the sooner you see him."

"Aw, Brucie, you care so much," Tony coos, smirking in his direction.

"Only because you make me," Bruce replies, his tone nowhere near sharp enough to hide his affection.

"I love you too, Bruce," Tony clucks dramatically, swooning from under his covers.

"Sleep," Bruce reminds him, hiding the quirk of his lips from his best friend and yawning exaggeratedly.

"Yes, dear," Tony complies, smiling at the picture of Steve on his lockscreen for just a few moments longer before giving into sleep.

-

"You," Sam marvels with a sharp eye as he stares unfailingly, " _disgust_ me, Steve Rogers."

Steve looks up from his phone with what he knows has to be an embarassingly goofy smile, but he can't bring himself to care much about it in the face of Tony's messages, his chest too light and fuzzy for anything else.

"Still not sorry," Steve shrugs, grin widening when Sam makes a face and throws a dirty sock at him.

"You're gonna see him in like five minutes, dude," Sam grumbles while he finishes putting on his cleats. "You really can't wait that long to talk to him again?"

"Nope," Steve replies cheerfully as he finishes typing out a text, entirely too angelic in the face of Sam's exasperation just to piss him off further.

"Cap still mooning over his boo?" Clint drawls in askance from the other side of the football team's changing room, leaning against the wall with a raised brow.

"Oooh, the mysterious boyfriend," Pietro whispers theatrically, sharing a look with Luke Cage as they walk over to Sam and Steve. "Is he finally back in town now? I always thought Cap was lying about having a boyfriend until I saw him moping around the day lover boy left to save the world or whatever."

"Still don't believe he's a genius billionaire philanthropist," Luke adds, Steve rolling his eyes and switching into his cleats for the match.

"Trust me, he's _very_ real," Sam says with a fake shudder of horror, grinning when Steve shoves his shoulder for payback.

"Thank you, Maximoff, for caring so much about my love life," Steve remarks dryly. "I'm sure you'll have one someday too, don't worry."

Pietro staggers back and falls into Clint's arms in a dramatic show of heartbreak at Steve's cutting sarcasm, inciting laughter all around the room.

"You gotta admit it's suspicious that only Bucky and Sam have met the dude," Clint points out as he shoves Pietro away with a smirk, pulling the uniform over his head and tugging it down. "We've known you, what-two years? We've never seen the guy even _once_."

"And your phone mysteriously only has pictures of Tony Stark," Johnny Storm adds as he joins the conversation, knocking knees with Thor when he sits down on one of the benches. "Tony Stark, who has at least ten fansites and personally assured me he's had a boyfriend for the past five years."

"Why the hell would Tony Stark be talking about his boyfriend with _you_?" Sam asks incredulously.

"Because no matter how many times I try, he never sleeps with me," Johnny complains while digging through a duffel bag, oblivious to the way Steve freezes at his words. "He says he'd rather break every bone in his body _twice_ than even consider ruining his relationship. They're childhood sweethearts or something, apparently, because Stark's always bragging to Sue about how much better than Reed his boyfriend is. It's real bad for the ego, dude."

"That is...unexpectedly sweet for a man known in his flirtatious ways," Thor rumbles with a raised brow, a leonine grin spreading across his face when he sees Steve.

"Look at our good Captain, Storm," Thor teases good-naturedly, patting Johnny's back firmly. "In the face of that look, one might believe his tales to be true."

Sure enough, when the entire team turns to Steve, the flush on his cheeks has spread to his ears and climbed down his neck in blotchy pinks, practically glowing as he ignores them all by ducking his head and pretending to fiddle with his shoelaces.

"Oh my god," Clint guffaws, "Cap, what the hell? I've never seen you turn that red in my entire _life_ , and I've seen Coach make you run up a mountain for training."

"Shaddup, Clint," Steve grumbles, hunching his shoulders self-consciously as the boys gape at him.

"I can't believe Cap is actually out here acting like Tony Stark's boyfriend," Luke says with a smirk, resting against a wall without a care.

"I can't believe you guys still think this is a joke," Sam throws back while tossing his other dirty sock at Luke, who dodges it smoothly.

"Oh, so you're going with the genius billionaire philanthropist shtick too?" Clint questions interestedly, earning a spare jersey to the head.

"Can we please stop talking about my boyfriend?" Steve asks loudly, voice echoing in the large shower area. "We do have a game in fifteen minutes, you know."

"Yeah, guys, Cap's right," Johnny agrees easily, winking at Clint and Pietro. "Game first-then mystery boyfriend exposé."

Steve's groan is just barely heard over the sound of intense snickering, and yanks at one of his laces aggressively before moving to the back to grab something.

"Steve, answer your damn phone," a foreign voice suddenly says, cutting off their laughter when Bucky stomps through the door with exasperation written all over his face. "I did _not_ sign up to deal with your boyfriend's ADHD today, swear to god."

"Buck?" Steve answers in confusion, his head reappearing from where it disappeared behind the lockers on the far side of the room. "What are you doing here?"

"Your little _snookums_ or whatever the hell you're calling him now is blowing up my phone. Apparently you've been leaving him on read for the past eight minutes-he's been spamming me nonstop because he thinks you're pissed at him for forgetting where to sit."

"But I'm not even on my phone," Steve replies with a furrowed brow, spinning on his heels when he hears a small cough.

"Uh, Cap," Sam whispers, jerking his head to the bench Steve was sitting on before. "Your phone's still open."

Intrigued, the entire team watches as Steve dashes for the phone and pales as he scrolls down, hurriedly typing a response to what seems like a good thirty messages on his screen.

" _Thank you_ ," Bucky groans, flopping down on a nearby bench. "I don't get paid enough to deal with this shit, I'm tellin' ya. You'd better not mope for at least another year after whatcha put me through while he was gone, Stevie, I'm serious."

"Barnes, you have mystery man's number?" Pietro accuses just as Thor asks-

"But why would the good Captain's phone be on for such a long period?"

"It's because he sets his screen timeout for ten minutes so he can stare like a dumbass at a picture of his boyfriend before he goes to sleep," Bucky rolls his eyes, Steve pausing in his typing to flush and look up.

" _Bucky_ ," he hisses, betrayed, to which Bucky just raises his eyebrows with a fair modicum of judgement.

"No matter how many times my number changes, he still gets it," Bucky deigns to reply to Pietro, ignoring Steve as he stretches out his legs. "Figures all those damn Ph. D's would be good for something other than hacking my shit, but nah."

"Ph. D's?" Thor asks in surprise, sharing a look with the rest of the team. "Captain Steven was not exaggerating when he spoke of his boyfriend's intellectual prowess, then?"

"He's the kind of person who'd get a Ph. D outta spite, the petty little asshole," Bucky scoffs, chuckle telling when Steve sends him a knowing grin. "God forbid you ever call that man stupid."

"What the hell kind of a dude _is_ your boyfriend, Cap?"

"Come on, boys, game time!" Steve announces, ignoring the question and grabbing Sam by the arm to make for the field.

"Ten bucks says he's out there with a sign that lights up and shoots flames or some shit and you're gonna hate your life," Sam whispers at the doors, Steve considering the wager with a hum.

"You're on," Steve agrees, sliding his arm up to Sam's shoulder and shaking him playfully while they leave the others behind.

"See, he _never_ gives us anything!" Clint complains, leaning on Bucky's shoulder to throw him a look. "Two years, and he can't answer a single question."

"Eh, give it a hot minute," Bucky says casually. "His dumbass boyfriend heard you guys don't know who he is and wanted to make a special entrance to fuck with all of you last season; Steve's letting him have his fun today since he couldn't come before. Trust me, you'll know him when you see him."

"Now you just made me want to know even more," Pietro whines, leaving the rest in his dust as he speeds out to the field to catch a look at the mystery boyfriend.

"Pietro, wait-dammit, Buck, I gotta go now," Clint yells as he chases after him, the rest of the team following quickly.

They're looking for Steve by the bleachers on their side of the field when Thor laughs, rich and booming even over the sounds of the crowds sitting behind them.

"Indeed, Captain Rogers was not untruthful of his relations," Thor chuckles, shaking his head and pointing down the field just as the sounds of something static echoes over them.

Turning, the entire team watches in awe as Anthony Edward Stark sets up a holographic projection as big as the bleachers with the words, "GO SHIELD," on a translucent banner in red and blue with a tap of his fingers on his phone, the banner switching over to a picture of Steve in the middle of a game.

"GO STEVE ♡," it reads, their jaws just barely grazing the floor when Captain Steve Rogers, notoriously known for preferring the quiet and avoiding attention with a ten-foot pole, _laughs_ like it's the best thing he's ever seen.

"You-you really weren't kidding," Steve gasps through his laughter, shoulders shaking while he doubles over at the immense wave of blue-pink joy and fondness overcoming him and leaving him too full of emotion to do anything but laugh. "Oh God, Tony, that's _huge_."

"I know," Tony says smugly as it switches to "TONY STARK ♡ STEVE ROGERS" and even more people begin shouting in surprise, "it's great. Rhodey said I had to do the hearts to show up all the other gals here with their posters, and you know how he gets when I don't listen to him."

"You are...unbelievable," Steve gasps for breath, smile a mile wide and cheeks Tony's favorite rosy red, his heart flipping over itself in a brilliant symphony at the beam Tony sends his way in return. "You know you're gonna regret that when you get swarmed up on those bleachers, right?"

"Nah," Tony denies, shaking his head. "I'll be fine."

Wiping at the tears threatening to spill at the corner of his eyes from laughing so hard, Steve takes a deep breath and pulls Tony in close, lacing his hands behind the small of Tony's back and nosing at his hairline.

"So," Steve says, not even bothering to smother the smitten look on his face when Tony wraps his arms around Steve's neck and pecks his jaw, "what's a guy gotta do for a good luck charm?"

"Ask," Tony answers cheekily, leaning in for a soft, affectionate kiss that melts Steve's bones into something shimmery and star-bright, one hand coming up to cradle Tony's face in a precious hold.

"Holy shit, Cap's making out with _Tony Stark_ ," Clint whispers in shock, frozen to his spot as the entire stadium watches avidly.

"Cap and Tony Stark are _c_ _hildhood_ _sweethearts_ ," Johnny whimpers in sudden realization, recalling Tony's previous words to Sue.

"Sorry, bud, there's just no way you were ever gonna hit that," Bucky tells him unkindly, patting his back roughly after ambling out of the locker room into the field. "Stark and Stevie have been a thing since birth, the damn fools."

"Tough luck, Storm," Luke chuckles, raising his eyebrows at the hurt look Johnny throws him.

"Why do all the hottest people go out with each other?" Pietro mourns, snapping to attention when their Coach's whistle blows. "Shit, game time in five minutes!"

A few yards away, Tony lets go of Steve to throw a wink at a disgusted Sam, gently pressing his lips against Steve's brow before stepping back.

"Go kick some ass," Tony orders, smile growing when Steve salutes him.

"Careful getting through that horde," Steve cautions, helplessly fond as Tony waves him off to the field with a shoo of his hands.

"You're gonna kill it, babe," Tony promises warmly, watching Steve make his way to the team with quite a few looks backwards before heading up to where Bruce is sitting, holding a spot open for him. Hundreds of people crowd his way up the steps, clamoring for his attention and yelling questions, shoving others around to get closer. Ignoring them and smiling pleasantly for the camera, Tony works through them with years of experience and makes it to Bruce within two minutes without a single comment.

Catching Steve's eye and seeing the way his frame tightens with tension at the sight of Tony being swarmed at his own game, he bites his lip to hold back a sappy look and blows him a kiss.

Back on the field, Thor nudges at Steve and nods his head towards Tony, grinning at the feeling of his captain's body suddenly going loose beside him at the flying kiss sent his way.

"Though you do not enjoy attention, Captain, it seems you do not mind the effects of your beloved's presence," Thor rumbles, pleased to learn something new about his good friend as Steve shrugs.

"I never mind when it's Tony," Steve answers honestly, tilting his head to the side and smiling to himself.

"So you gonna pay up my money or what, Cap?" Sam joins the conversation, crossing his arms and intriguing Thor.

"I," Steve tells him haughtily, "regret _nothing_ , and I love my life very much, so no, Wilson, you get a total of _nada_."

"You are the single most gross person I have ever met in my life," Sam informs him with a scoff, elbowing Steve when blue eyes stray to Tony once more. "Professor Coulson so much as says your name and you hide your face, but Stark makes a poster the size of _Kansas_ at the biggest game of the season and you just smile like a doofus. God, you can't even pay attention to anything else when he's around."

"Shut up, Sam," Steve rolls his eyes, elbowing back and aiming for a pressure point to make him yelp.

"Dick move, dude," Sam hisses, groaning when the pale light washing over the field from Tony's holoscreen turns dark red with warning.

"STOP HARASSING MY BOYFRIEND WILSON," it displays, Tony smirking as Sam flips him the bird.

"Rogers! Wilson! Get your asses over here!"

"Yes, sir," they chorus obediently, jogging to the team circle and making faces at each other like the mature adults they are.

It takes two hours, a lot of dirt, and quite a few scrapes at the hands of their asshole rivals before the game is over at a blessed 7-5, Steve breathless when Clint throws himself on top, the rest of the team following suit with cheers louder than the audience screaming on the stands.

"Take that, motherfuckers!" Clint crows through a wheeze as the pile of sweaty football players grows larger and larger.

"Get off, get _off_ ," Steve chokes, laughing despite himself and taking ahold of Clint and Sam under his arms to roll on the floor in revenge for jumping on top of him.

"Hey, Rogers!" Tony calls out, waiting at the team bench by their coach with his hands inside his pockets, eyes twinkling under the field's lights and smile too wide and gorgeous to do anything but make Steve want him. "You gonna come over here so I can make out with you or what?"

"I don't know, I have a boyfriend," Steve teases with a bursting heart, standing up and brushing himself off with his helmet cocked at his hip.

"Oh?" Tony asks, eyebrows rising and smile curling mischievously. "Is that so?"

"Yup," Steve answers cheerfully as he walks over to Tony, setting his helmet down on the bench and running a hand through his sweaty blond hair. "Haven't seen him in months, but he's a real cute fella."

"So they say," Tony agrees, lips twitching when he takes a step closer to Steve, hands pulling at his jersey to move their faces closer. "You should know, I have a boyfriend too."

"Yeah?" Steve breathes, hands settling on Tony's waist and feeling the heat of his body seep into his own skin.

"Yeah," Tony murmurs, drawing Steve into a long, sensual kiss, the team whooping behind them. It's a congratulations, a reminder, a gift and a promise all at once between their open mouths, and Tony's lips are wet and reddened when he leans back.

"He's pretty cute, too, even when he thinks he's being funny," Tony whispers with the beginnings of that same beautiful, stunning smile that made Steve fall for him in the first place when they were eight years old.

"Sounds like a tough date," Steve says sympathetically, holding a straight face remarkably well.

"Sure is," Tony hums, running his arms up Steve's chest to lace behind his neck and play with the hairs there. "But I love him anyways."

"I got a feeling that says he loves you too," Steve tells him, finally letting his mouth melt into a soppy grin and pressing a series of quick, firm kisses on Tony. "What do you say to having a bite to eat with this boyfriend of yours and then heading home for some quality time together?"

"I say we better get to it," Tony tells him, kissing back in short bursts before looking past Steve to his team.

"Hey, Avengers!" Tony yells, catching their attention. "Burgers at Donovan's on me! Get your asses in gear, boys, or I'm leaving all of you behind."

Laughing at the wide eruption of cheers that follows his announcement, Tony tugs at Steve's neck with his arms.

"Come on, Rogers, let's go feed your little league team," Tony says, kissing him one last time before reaching down to take his hand. "I want to hear all about how much you missed me while I was gone so I can be _extra_ enthusiastic tonight."

Shaking his head and chuckling, Steve threads their fingers together and leans down to press a kiss to Tony's cheek.

"I missed you," he replies easily, soft and loose with happiness when he squeezes Tony's hand in his. "I missed your hands, and your smile, and your laugh, and I missed holding you at night and kissing you to sleep. I missed your tank tops, your smell, the way your hair sticks up when you're on a binge and forget to wash it properly. I miss you even when you're on campus because I always want to see you, all day of _every day._ "

"And don't you _dare_ forget I'm the exact same," Tony reminds him, pausing in their walk to spin around and kiss Steve again, his mouth still soft and slightly wet from their last kiss and making Steve's skin tingle.

"I know," Steve murmurs truthfully, brushing a stray hair behind Tony's ear and rubbing his thumb across Tony's smooth cheek.

"Alright, alright, spare us the show," Bucky calls from much farther behind, walking along with Sam and Clint. "You've got the whole night after this to be gross somewhere else."

"Shut up, _James_ ," Tony yells, snickering at the way Bucky's face morphs within seconds and forcing Steve to run with him to avoid the oncoming tackle Bucky tries to take him down in for using his first name.

It's never the same, Steve thinks, without Tony-not for Steve, not for Bucky, not for anyone who's ever had the god given grace of meeting him and becoming friends with him. He changes even the smallest things around Steve in ways that boggle his mind, his presence so huge Steve can't remember what it means to be _Steve Rogers_ without Tony Stark. Even now, running into the streets to avoid being tackled by his best friend and trying his hardest not to let his sore muscles trip him up, Steve is filled with parts of Tony from head-to-toe.

It's not really fair to say he _loves_ Tony, he thinks blindly as they race down the alley and narrowly miss being caught by Bucky. Love is such a small word for something that encompasses nearly all of everything Steve is-his hair, his skin, his mouth, his hands, his feet, his heart and lungs and bones and blood-all of it for _Tony,_  alive and alight and existing every day for someone more precious than the world or its sun and moon.

No, Steve realizes slowly, he doesn't _love_ Tony Stark, because Tony has always been _more_ , and so has this feeling burrowed in every one of Steve's cells that flowers delightedly at the thought of Tony.

"You better not let go of Stark, Stevie, or his ass is _grass_!" Bucky bellows, swiping at them once again as they round a corner.

"Like hell I would!" Steve pants, tightening his grip on Tony's hand and making a beeline for the diner across the street.

They bribe Bucky and eat burgers with the football team and go home together, falling asleep with their arms tight around one another and their breaths falling in sync, and after years and years pass, people coming and going and hurting and being hurt in return-Steve holds on to Tony, and Tony holds right back, long after they've graduated highschool and college and Tony proposes the day Steve makes his own plans to propose. And _that_ , Steve knows, is exactly what they were meant for.

"When it comes to being with Tony," Steve had said firmly to Bucky back when they were fifteen and lying on wet grass to look at the sky, "I regret nothing."

He meant it, and still does, and always will, because it's _Tony_.

**Author's Note:**

> sosbs if u read that entire thing...god Bless u... talk stony to me on tumblr@shell-heads if u don't hate me for this weird ass fic djdnfjff


End file.
